


La Famille de Saltimbanques

by dramatic owl (snarky_panda)



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Dysfunctional Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Female Friendship, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Sister-Sister Relationship, Trope Bingo Amnesty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 09:05:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3644580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarky_panda/pseuds/dramatic%20owl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Circus AU. Helga prepares to join the family act.</p>
            </blockquote>





	La Famille de Saltimbanques

**Author's Note:**

> Written for both the ladiesbingo and trope_bingo challenges on dreamwidth, for the prompt: au circus.
> 
> Disclaimer: Not mine. Just this story.

Helga Pataki frowned as she studied her face in the mirror and compared it to the picture on the page in her hand. In a trailer across the way Reba Heyerdahl was helping her daughter with her make-up; today was Phoebe’s debut too. But Helga was on her own as she prepared for her first professional performance. Miriam had handed her an instruction packet and gone off to do whatever it was that concerned her, which wasn’t Helga.

Ever since her mother had given her the packet she’d been practicing applying her make-up every day as soon as school and training was finished, following the step by step instructions on which item to put on in what order, which brush to use or whether she should use a sponge – with photographs of her sister Olga in the various stages of make-up so she’d have a visual of how each completed step should look.

"Close enough," she muttered after a last long look at the photo and tossed the page aside, moving on to the next step.

She had to admit, grudgingly, that it was a clear and easy-to-follow guide, and she’d left herself a good two and a half hours to do all her preparations for the show – warm-up and stretching, costume and make-up. But it wasn’t the same as having a mom who demonstrated pride in her and offered guidance with love.

The Patakis had been a circus family for four generations before Helga and her sister were born. Great-great grandma and grandpa Piri and István Pataki performed as acrobats with one of the larger circuses at the turn of the twentieth century, touring Europe from Budapest to Dunkirk then sailing to the United States with the troupe in early 1903. For several seasons they toured the Midwest, eventually becoming renowned as the Vermicelli Brothers' "acrobat duo, come to America all the way from Hungary." Their children, Andrew and Robert, were born under the big top – and on American soil – and were already learning their parents’ art as soon as they were old enough to walk. And so it went, with the children and the children’s children growing up in the circus and continuing the family tradition.

Robert 'Big Bob' Pataki, the second Robert Pataki in the family, and Miriam Larsen met and married while working in the early 1970s with Cirque Hillwood. They too worked as a duo, their routine a dynamic and impressive combination of acrobatics, contortion and ballet, with Big Bob doing some flips and movement but mostly lifting and holding Miriam up while she did all the fancy moves. Olga was born a few years later, in 1977, and by the time she was seven she was an accomplished young acrobat – a prodigy according to Big Bob and Miriam. The Pataki Duo became the Pataki Trio. They'd had no intention of making it a quartet, but life is full of unexpected surprises; Helga was born three years later, on March 25th, 1987.

With her parents focused on the act, as well as how special Olga was, Helga was left to herself, raised and trained for the most part by the members of her larger circus family. Everyone lived together anyway, worked together, ate together, traveled together. Two school teachers also traveled with the circus, educating the children of the performers and other circus employees in a setting that was sort of a cross between a classroom and home-schooling. It was in class that she met and became close friends with Phoebe. Life would've been far bleaker without her in it; Olga was her sister in blood but Phoebe was the sister she'd chosen. And she loved Reba and Kyo Heyerdahl, who were very attentive and caring of her.

When Miriam’s drinking spiraled out of control after years of managing to sober up for performances and remain functional, and a nasty fall left her with a career-ending injury, it was Reba and Kyo who pointed out to the Patakis that Helga was herself a prodigy and would make a fine addition to any act. Miriam and Big Bob stared at Helga as if seeing her for the first time. A few days later Helga was learning the moves originally performed by Olga when she was small, while Olga shifted to take Miriam’s place in that routine.

Eleven-year-old Helga was thrilled – until rehearsals with Big Bob began. She never heard the end of how quickly Olga had picked up everything, how graceful Olga was doing this or that part of the routine, how impeccable Olga's timing, how Olga nailed each and every movement. Olga tried to be encouraging but Helga grew more annoyed with each and every "you're doing great, Baby Sis."

She had two more steps of make-up to go when a knock at the door and a greeting in Japanese made her smile and turn.

"Hey, Pheebs." She appraised her friend standing in the doorway in full costume and make-up. "You look great."

"So do you," she said, stepping into the trailer and taking a seat beside her.

"Thanks. I'm not quite done yet though."

They chatted in Japanese while Helga put the last touches of color and sparkle on her face. Kyo, the son of a Norwegian father and Japanese mother, had grown up speaking Japanese with his mother and he spoke it with Phoebe. Phoebe began teaching it to Helga when they were small and although Helga hadn't yet gained Phoebe's level of fluency, she was proficient. Other than Kyo, who wouldn't eavesdrop, no one else would understand them. It was their language now, the language in which they shared their secrets of the heart.

Helga didn't need to mention the uncertainty that still gnawed at her after weeks of practicing the routine. Anyway, it was show business and the show must go on. But her friend intuitively understood how shaken she was after every rehearsal in which her father fussed over her older sister but offered no praise for her. Now, as Helga assessed her completed make-up, Phoebe leaned forward so their faces were side by side in the mirror and told her she looked stunning.

"You're gonna knock 'em dead, Helga."

She felt Phoebe's hand close around hers and squeeze, and she smiled and returned the squeeze. "We both are, Pheebs."

**Author's Note:**

> The title of the story is inspired by Pablo Picasso’s 1905 work [Family of Saltimbanques](http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/highlights/highlight46665.html).
> 
> Update: Now with art! [beelikej](http://archiveofourown.org/users/BeeLikeJ) created an absolutely beautiful work of art for this fic:
> 
> [](http://tinypic.com?ref=2bw4jm)


End file.
